Telegraph reports schools face legal action

[BovaryX]

The Telegraph reports that schools face legal action if they prevent trans children from accessing the toilet of their choice. It cites the new guidance from the CPS

Schools have been warned by prosecutors that they could face legal action if they fail to allow transgender pupils to use their preferred lavoratories or changing rooms. A new guidance document for schools, drawn up by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), advises teachers that excluding trans pupils from “particular facilities” could be seen as “indirect discrimination” if it is not “justifiable as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim"

Stephanie Davies-Arai, who founded the campaign group Transgender Trend, said: “The guidance suggests that single sex spaces are unlawful and that girls are not entitled to single-sex toilets. “It also takes away their right to express any discomfort about sharing their facilities with the opposite sex.” Meanwhile the Safe Schools Alliance said the guidance is “enormously worrying and harmful” as says teenagers will be “coerced” into believing it is illegal to exclude males from female toilets

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/29/schools-warned-could-face-legal-action-fail-allow-trans-pupils/

Oh God.

How can that lie not be challenged?

AFAIK the usual response of schools is to allow the pupil who identifies as trans to use a private facility, such as a disabled cubicle.

This seems like a Proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aim of allowing girls access to toilet facilities so they can get an education.

As awful as this will be for the schools TRAs use as test cases it could actually be Harry Pt 2 in a way. I hope they pick a rich public school that has lots and lots of rich alumni who can help them fight back.

Go ahead, try to take Rodean or Benenden to court over this. TRAs are well connected, but compared to the parents of those students?

Agreed. Privileged people have been cushioned from many of the implications of self ID and enforced adherence to gender ideology. I'm waiting to hear how posh girls' schools cope with accepting trans pupils of the opposite sex. They rely heavily on donations from wealthy ex pupils, so I wonder how they'll spin this or whether they will attempt to keep it buried.

The guidance states the law correctly. It is unlikely to be proportionate to insist on the use of segregated disabled lavatory facilities. What ‘legitimate aim’ does that proportionately protect, given that school lavatories are provided with segregated cubicles?

Sharon
You have completely missed the point. The CPS has drawn up guidelines for schools which suggest that failure to let trans pupils access the toilet of their choice is illegal That means that sex segregated spaces in schools are illegal. It is extraordinary that the CPS is promoting a policy unsupported by law

This is a deliberate and provocative push from the current right wing government which is designed to provoke a backlash towards the entire LGB community.

Given separate, adequate cubicles and no enclosed spaces... but how many schools have those?

Unless the answer is 100% if them have 100% of toilets like that then the legitimate aim is as it has always been... the safety and dignity of women and girls

I've been wondering for a while what would happen when the first TRA really pushes a case where a male student insists on sleeping in a girls dorm at boarding school. I'm sure there must have been a handful of cases by now, but none seem to have hit the news. I hope it does hit the news soon, because if this nonsense isn't stopped that's exactly where it's heading, and even the dimmest of bulbs is going to have a hard time pretending not to grasp the problems inherent in having a 16 year old male student sleep in the bed next to an unrelated 12 year old female student with no barrier and no adult supervision every night for a whole term.

TRAs are well connected, but compared to the parents of those students?

Prodigal
One of the reasons this radical agenda has been able to advance so far, so quickly, is that most people do not know what's happening The deliberate sub rosa tactics of this lobby have been a success. But the supine media has woken up. This is getting coverage in the Telegraph. There will be pushback.

This is a deliberate and provocative push from the current right wing government which is designed to provoke a backlash towards the entire LGB community

The current government is not right wing.

And that's exactly why I'm hoping they'll overreach and sue a school where the majority of parents have real power.

I can see all this getting worse and worse : subtly, with instructions and guidelines, and then suddenly we'll be so far gone, we'll wonder how we got there. But, they'll be no way back.

Given that I advise and argue the law (on both sides of the argument) regularly, I would be interested to hear how you suggest that the guidance is ‘unsupported by law’.

There is a real question about what is a legitimate aim and what means is proportionate to achieve that. ‘Absolutist’ arguments, such as those deployed by Ms Forstater, are unlikely to provide answers attractive to a court or tribunal.

Just a quick note, the person above has graced us with their presence before so you may want to take a look for educational purposes.

Thank you TheProdigal Well noted.

Hasn't a precedent already been set on this issue? Didn't Lily Madigan get St Simon Stock school in Maidstone to climb down through threat of legal action? I found it totally unbelievable when I first read about it.

www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/schools-apology-to-transgender-pupil-104081/

per another post on different section: In that post toilets are being locked & all children have to be accompanied etc etc the conclusion many of us felt would over come all problems is this - the government needs to supply grants to schools to change all loos to being individual ones with access directly onto corridors each with a small sink - especially if problems of drug use, bullying or in the case of such strict trans rules - (nb I am not comparing trans rights with antisocial behaviour but I do think the issue of group segregated toilets needs a rethink to make sure all children are protected & have access at all times when they require use. I also think that if any child damages/missuses toilet they need to be punished or make reparation - I don't think all the children should be punished )

I'd be fascinated to know how many self-ID'd transboys (under 18s) are insisting on using the male toilets, communal showers, changing rooms and dorms in British schools. Would headteachers agree that was a safe option?

Or is this likely to be another one way street?

the government needs to supply grants to schools to change all loos to being individual ones with access directly onto corridors

How much will it cost to transform every communal toilet in UK schools to individual cubicles? Who will pick up the tab for that?

Or is this likely to be another one way street?

Amongst friends and acquaintances I think I only know of teenage transboys at the moment and every single one still attends private girls schools.

Of course I very much agree that they should be allowed to stay - it would be inhumane to manage them out (a la girl guides) at such a vulnerable point in their lives.

What would happen if a transboy applied to Eton or Harrow?